Counterfeit Nike Smuggler Faces Hard Time

SAN DIEGO (CN) – A suburban San Diego man pleaded guilty Thursday to importing and selling $1 million worth of counterfeit Nike Air Jordan shoes made in China. Steven Ray Holliday, 31, of El Cajon, pleaded guilty to conspiring to import merchandise illegally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Holliday is owner and operator of Staxx on Deck skate shop in El Cajon, east of San Diego, prosecutors said. He admitted that he “knowingly” bought $800,000 to $1.2 million of counterfeit Air Jordans from China from 2009 until May 2012. He sold them at his skate shop and on the Internet through his website, 23isking.com. Holliday agreed to forfeit the domain name, which the government already had seized. He faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine at his Feb. 19, 2013 sentencing.